I went to the doctor for my 12 week checkup and the doctor told me I have the antibodies in my system for CMV(Cytomegalovirus). I got the hear the heartbeat and see an ultrasound and everything looked and sounded great. The doctor is sending me to neonatal doctor to make sure everything is ok. I researched a little online and it says that you should worry if you contract it while pregnant but I didn't. Has anyone heard of this, has this or has gone through this as well and wouldn't mind sharing their experience.... thanks

UPDATE
I am posting again to give a slight update. I went to the doctor on 9-7-05 for an ultrasound and to speak with a specialist on this matter. I really don't feel like I got anywhere at this appointment as the doctor gave me 3 options. The doctor said I could (1) terminate the pregnancy but gave me no reason to and cannot tell me that there is anything wrong now and cannot give me how likely I am to have problems. (2) next option was to continue on with pregnancy by monitoring monthly with ultrasound and then (3) would be to have an amniocentesis and see if the baby is testing positive for CMV. Basically it was explained to me that there are 3 ways the baby can have problems. It has to be lined up so that I obtained the virus in my first 12 weeks of pregnancy, next the baby would have to have been infected. A mom can have the virus or could have obtained the virus and the baby not become infected. Third, if the baby is infected, it has to then become effected. Which means the baby canbe infected but not have any effects from the CMV virus. I wanted to post this information for anyone else out there going through this as we felt we were in the dark with the limited information we were getting. If there is anyone out there that has suffered this or has a child that has this or they had this while pregnant and the child had effects or did not, please post to this. My husband and I are trying to take this one day at a time and will see the doctor again on 10-7-05 (my birthday) in hopes that the doctor will be able to tell us more and if our baby will have problems or not. Feel free to email me at lilscangel@yahoo.com with any info that you have...thanks in advance to everyone who reads and responds.... By the way, I am 14 weeks and 4 days

Demand your dr. test the baby and demand your dr. tell you all of the effects of CMV on your baby I work with disabled children and have ahd 2 children with the virus and the results can be mild to severe demand some answers!!

Thank you for your response. I will be going back for a followup with the specialist and also my midwife in the next several weeks and will demand that I have some answers. Have you heard that this is very common? So do you see it a lot?

I knew nothing of this virus until it was brought to my attention at my level II US. I was found to be at high risk for Trisomy 18. At my follow up US, they found two markers for this condition, one was choroid plexus cysts and the other echogenic bowel. Bear with me here...I am slowly getting to my point. I knew of the cysts but not of the bowel condition. This can be caused by several things....a chromosomal disorder, bowel obstruction, infection (ie toxoplasmosis, CMV, or parvovirus), or simply nothing. What I might suggest is a level II US to check for the presence of this echogenic bowel. It might not hurt to be tested through an amniocentesis. I had one done following the level II indications, but this is something you need to discuss with your doctor. I knew much about parvovirus and toxoplasmosis having worked at a vet hospital, but nothing about the CMV. Apparently it is a herpes virus, that many of us come into contact with during our lifetime. What I would want to know is when I came into contact with the virus (you say before you were pregnant) and is the infection acute or chronic. I almost can't believe that your doctor would have suggested termination of the pregnancy. I know these diseases cross the blood brain barrier, and can cause numerous problems with the baby after birth, but why offer this as an option so early....before you even get the answers you are ent_tled to. DEMAND some answers.....it is your right to know. It is so unfortunate that pregnancy has turned into ladies finding out something bad and having to resort to the internet to get answers. I have a bone to pick with my OBGYN too. About the results of my quad screen (how I found out about the Trisomy 18) and how she dealt with the issue. Basically called and told me I was at high risk, then told me to call back if I had any questions after looking on the internet and such. I called back later that afternoon to ask a question....something like, how would my risk decrease if my due date was incorrect...something they should easily be able to answer...or atleast call the blood services to get me an answer. She said she did not know and that she would have to consult her book....or something like that....I should just wait for my level II (mind you my level II was scheduled for 3 WEEKS later). I know they deal with this stuff on a daily basis, but come on, this is their JOB.....they get paid well too....STOP BLOWING US OFF AND GIVE US SOME ANSWERS. Sorry to vent here on your page, but all I wanted to get across is that you deserve answers.....just like I deserved answers....I mean they tell you to call back if you have any questions, but do they really mean that? Best of luck to you and congratulations. I sure all will be just fine. Be sure to discuss all of your options and weigh the odds before considering terminating the pregnancy. It is SOOOO hard to wait for the results of the amnio (that is where I am --- playing the waiting game) but it will be worth it. They will tell you if your infection has crossed the placenta. They are currently testing my amniotic fluid for CMV, parvo, and toxo, so I know this to be true.

Thanks so much for posting and giving the information that you did. It helps to know that there are other's out there that are going through the same situation. Basically at this point, I am just getting ready for my next appointment with a long list of questions. I can't believe they can't tell me when I got this. I am going to request a level II ultrasound and request another blood screening to see if this is still being traced or if the levels are down. It is terribly sad that we do have to report to the internet to have a lot of our questions answered and makes you lose faith in the doctors. They are paid to do this and went to school for this and we tend to know more about our certain situation than they do. At this point I am going to do everything I can to make other's aware and also make sure I have answers to the questions that I am asking. I don't care if I must go through 4 specialist doctor's or drive 500 miles to specialty facilites, I will get the information I deserve as a pregnant women. Like my husband and I discussed, I will not terminate a pregnancy when a doctor cannot tell me why or what may happen if I go on. I love this baby already so much and I haven't even held them or kissed them yet.... there is so much love there already that I would not be able to live with myself if I did this. Keep me posted and email me if you wish... lilscangel@yahoo.com... best of luck to everyone that is going through a difficult time with their pregnancy and I am saying my prayers for all of us. God Bless.................

I was just wondering what you have decided to do.....did you have the amnio run....how about a level II US? I got the results of my amnio back today...along with the culture results (for CMV, toxo, and parvo) and those results were normal too. Please keep us posted, and best of luck.

Well I am going for a level II ultrasound on 10-7-05 and will also hopefully find out the s_x then too! I go to my midwife on 9-28-05 and will have a lot to talk about then, I am going to request that they screen me again to see if my levels are higher, the same or have come down. They can tell a lot from that. If they are higher that means that I just got the infection, if it is the same, it means it has been in my system for some time as the levels remain the same for anywhere from 2-9 months or if they are lower it means that I had this before I got pregnant and am not really at risk for problems. Aa far as teh amnio, my husband and I both agree that we are not going to do it at this time. I have been told that the risj for miscarriage is 1 in 200 for doctor's that do 50 or more amnio a year but for doctors that do less than 50, it is 1 in 100. I am not up for that risk. So now I am jsut waiting for my next appointment and I will post then of the outcome... I am hoping for good news then. Thanks so much for thinking of me and I will keep you posted.

**Well I am going for a level II ultrasound on 10-7-05 and will also hopefully find out the s_x then too! I go to my midwife on 9-28-05 and will have a lot to talk about then, I am going to request that they screen me again to see if my levels are higher, the same or have come down. They can tell a lot from that. If they are higher that means that I just got the infection, if it is the same, it means it has been in my system for some time as the levels remain the same for anywhere from 2-9 months or if they are lower it means that I had this before I got pregnant and am not really at risk for problems. Aa far as teh amnio, my husband and I both agree that we are not going to do it at this time. I have been told that the risj for miscarriage is 1 in 200 for doctor's that do 50 or more amnio a year but for doctors that do less than 50, it is 1 in 100. I am not up for that risk. So now I am jsut waiting for my next appointment and I will post then of the outcome... I am hoping for good news then. Thanks so much for thinking of me and I will keep you posted.

Well I just went to my midwife again today and I am 17 weeks. She said so far so good and I got for ultrasound next friday 10-7. Hopefully we will find out the s_x at that appointment. But overall no new updates on the CMV. My midwife seems to think that it did occur in the very beginning of my pregnancy but that is it. So we will just monitor with ultrasound to see how everything goes.

I had my ultrasound on 10-7-05 and we found out we are having a boy.. YIPPY. We are so very excited and so far the doctor said everything is going fine with the baby and he is almost a pound. He is growing great and we can't wait to see him. I just thought I would give an update.